Monday, October 11, 2010

"A Boy's Life" by Hanna Rosin

After reading "A Boy's Life", I better understand the meaning of transgender. Brandon is a prime example of a transgender individual because he is a boy who wants to be a girl. He dresses himself in female clothing and seems to place females on a higher pedestal than males. He takes no interest in most things that young boys around his age would be interested in such as sports, "tough guy toys", and above all else, dressing like a boy. Although Brandon's parents do not support how Brandon feels about gender, they do not make it seem as if it is wrong to believe he should b a girl. His mother Tina goes through a number of solutions to try and remedy this situation such as buying Brandon more boy toys and clothing but none of these tactics are effective.

When Tina realizes that Brandon is only becoming worse, she moves to more advanced measures and seeks the insight of a number of therapist, who give her a few different answers as to why her son wants to b a girl. One therapist tells her that Brandon may feel this way because he views Tina as a family protector because his father is not around, and because he views her this way, he wants to be exactly like her. He basically views her as a role model and the fact that she is a female means nothing to him. Tina also learns that Brandon may have a condition called "gender-identity disorder" which I didn't even know was a condition. This is one new thing I learned from reading the article.

Overall I believe that Tina handled her situation very well. She was able to figure out how to deal with her sons condition without hurting his feelings or harming his level of self-confidence. Many parents experience the same situation and are unable to handle dealing with it without hurting someone's feelings, especially if they don't agree with the beliefs of the person.